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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. ZEINER.

PRIMARY ELECTRIC PENDULUM GLOGKL Wfhzma Patented May 24. 1887.

LJI

UNITED STATES JOSEPH ZEINER, OF

PATENT Caries.

MUNICH, GERMANY.

PRIMARY ELECTRIC PENDULUM CLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,498, dated May 24,1887.

Application filed February 15, 1886. Serial No.101,944. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, J osErH ZEINER, of Mnnich, Germany, have invented anew and Improved Electric Pendulum Clock, of which the followingspecification is a full, clear, and exact description.

This pendulum clock may be used as a regulator-clock for the room, or asa normalclock for moving a system of secondary electriedialtrains. Inthe drawings a clock of the latter kind is represented, the dial-handsand wheels of the dial-train being omitted.

Figure I represents the upper and Fig. II the lower part of thependulum, in elevation. Fig. III is a ground plan of the most essentialparts. Figs. IV and V are details of the contact parts 0 Z. Figs. VI,VII, VIII, IX, X, and XI show modifications of the invention.

In Fig. I the pendulum-rod is marked 1?, acting against the toothedwheel R to turn the same on its axis A one tooth at every doublevibration by means of the pawl or lever b. This wheel'R is kept in itsposition during the back motion of the pendulum and pawl by friction ofa spring, f, which glides on the hub or tube a, connected with wheel 1%.It is evident that certain points of wheel It-e. g., the edges of theteeth-must, when at rest, occupy different positions to a fixed pointlying out side of the wheel, according to the greater or smaller are ofoscillation of the pendulum and to the greater or smaller motion towardthe right of the tooth pushed forward. This fact has been utilized inthe present case to produce a self-acting closing of the circuits. Thewheel R has at the back six pins, Z, having semicircular cross-sections.

H is a lever pivoted at d and pressed by a weight, G, against aregulating screw, it, placed near the lower end of this lever. Upon ahorizontal axle or pin attached to this lever I H a small lever, i,turning freely, is placed,

provided with an inclined plateflc, at one end and a small protrudingplate, 11, at its other end, nearest the pendulum.

On the rod P the hook-shaped pin is attached, provided with a sharp edgeat its under side.

The motion of the pendulum is effected in following manner: After thesame has been set to oscillate, the wheel R is pushed around one toothat every double oscillation of the pendulum. At the same time thepinstglide, one after the other, over the incline plane is, which causesevery time the lifting of plate 1) to the level of pin q. When theoscillations of the pendulum are of sufficient length, the pin twillmove a little distance beyond 70, allowing the left hand part of thelever i (being heavier) to fall back again before pin g, at its return,can seize hold of plate 1). Whenever the arc of oscillationof thependulum decreases to a certain point, the pint does not pass entirelybeyond Ia, and the left-hand part of the leveri will be held in itsraised position. Upon the next oscillation of the pendulum toward theleft the sharp edge of pin q engages a notch on the plate 11, therebyconnecting the lever H with the pendulum, when the levers t H will bedrawn toward the left, so that a pin, 0, attached to lower end of leverII, will glide over the end of spring Z and close the circuit. Thecurrent passes then from battery B over binding-post 1, axle d, leverH,pin 0, spring Z, binding-post 5 to the solenoid Z, Fig. 2, and back tobattery B. 4

Assoon as the current is created in the solenoid Z, theiron core E,attached to the pendu lum, will be drawn in, and thus anew impulse isgiven to the pendulum. When this new impulse is given to the pendulum,the oscillation of the same will be increased,whcreby the pin q willleave again the notch on the plate 1), and thus disconnect thelever Hfrom the pendulum F. The lever H, with pin 0, is drawn so far tothe leftthat the pin 0 leaves the end of spring Z,when the currentwill be againbroken.

The spring Z, which had been pressed downglide over 70 until a newimpulse becomes nec- I00 essary. The lateral arrangement of pivot (Z oflever H has for its object to depress the axlet In the same way thecontact during the motion of the lever toward the left, so that theparts is and twill not come into cont-act.

The parts of contact 0 and Z are shown in the ground plan, Fig. IV. Theflat spring llnay be replaced by a bent wire, as represented in Fig. V.The number of pins t may be fixed, at pleasure, within a certain limit.Instead of the pins, other parts of the wheel, even the teeth of thewheel, may be used. In place of imparting motion to the pendulum by asolenoid and core, an elcctro-magnct and armature may be employed.

The apparatus of contact for the current to move the secondary electricdial-train is eonstructed as follows: Vheel R has the same number ofteeth as the oscillations of the pendulum duringa minute. Therefore halfa revolution takes place every minute. The tube 0 is permanently andconductively connected with wheel 1%, Fig. III, and carries a hard-rubber tube, 0', upon which the brass tube a is slipped. The tube a isconnected with a thin plate or lamella, y, which is attached to butisolated from edge of wheel R, and carries on its end the pin on.Opposite pin or a second pin, .2, is attached to and in electric contactwith wheel R. The parts a y a: are thus isolated from parts A c R byinterposed hardrubber parts. Above and below the wheel R the contactsprings e and'g are attached, so that the pins 00 and z glide over themsimultaneously when in their vertical position, Fig. I. Now, when thepin or is in contact with spring 0 and the pin a with the spring 9, thecurrent issues from the battery B, goes over binding-post 3 and theparts fa 3 w c to bindingp0st 2 and to the wire M, leading to thedial-train, and returns by way of wire N, bi nding-post 4, and parts 9.2 Re A to B"; but when a is in contact with c and a: with g the currentwill run from B over binding-post 3, spring f, parts (6 3 m g to thedial-train wires, and will return by bi nding-post 2, parts 0 z R c A tothe battery B Consequently a current of alternate directions istransmitted every minute through the dial-train circuit.

The above-described construction of an electric pendulum clock, which isillustrated in Figs. Ito III, admits of different modifications.

Fig. VI shows the essential parts of a pendrr lum in such an arrangementthat thecontact part 0 is in rigid connection with the pendulum. Theone-arm lever m has its fulcrum at d, and is pressed by a spiral springagainst an adjusting-screw in the direction of the arrow. This levercarries an inclined plane, 7t, and the contact-spring Z.

\Vhen the pendulum oscillates toward the right, the lever m and spring Zare forced by the pin t out of the position shown in dotted lines intothe position shown in full lines whenever the oscillation of thependulum is not sufficient to cause the pin '6 to pass-the end of theinclined plane it. The lever m, with spring Z, remains in that position,so that dur ing the succeeding oscillation of the pendulum toward theleft the pin 0 will glide upon the inclined plane at the end of thespring Z to close the circuit, as above described, and, passing thenover the edge of said inclined plane, returns along the lower isolatedside of said inclined plane. The current travels over thesuspending-springs of the pendulum and the axle d of the lever. Thecontact parts 0 and Z of this and the following figures have the formshown in Fig. IV in ground plan.

In Fig. VII atwo-armed lever is used, capable of oscillating upon anaxle, d Theleftarm of this leveris formed by spring Z, provided with asmall weight. The closing of the current is produced the same as in Fig.VI by pin 0", except that during the time the current is closed theright-hand arm of this lever m is pressed against pin t".

In thearrangement in Figs. Iand III the pins t cause a temporaryconnection of a lever with the pendulum, and the consequent motion of acontact part ordinarily at rest, while with the modification shown inFigs. VI and VII an approach of a fixed contact part is produced withthe pendulum. In the first case the contact is produced directly throughthe motion of the contact part. In the second case the motion of thecontact part has for its object, primarily, to bring the parts in such aposition that a second moving part must come into contact with it; butit is clear that, instead of producing the motion ofa contact part bypin t, the motion of parts which are loosely connected with the pendulummay be checked. These modifications are shown in Figs. VIII, IX, and X.

Fig.VIIIisa front view, and Fig. IXapl-an,of an arrangement of theessential parts by which a direct stopping of one or both contaetpartsthat are connected to and oscillate with the pendulum may be produced.The outer-circumference of wheel R is placed, as in Fig. III, in theplane of oscillation of the pendulum, while the web or supporting-armsare attached laterally to the circumference and placed behind the same.Upon the inner edge of the ring which is thus produced notched pins 1are placed in a radial direction. The vertically-placed springa carriesa pin,0", bcntangular, and a movable horizontal-arm, v. This arm passeslaterally in front of the ring R, and is then bent backward toward theweb of the wheel with an edge at its lower side. lVhen the pins 15 donot advance far enough, this edge engages, during the motion of thependulum toward the left, a notch made in the pin t, thus holding thefixed spring a while the pendulum retreats when the contactpin 0 glidesover the inclined end of spring Z" and closes the circuit.

During the succeeding oscillations of the pendulum toward the right thepin 0 returns over the isolated part of Z to its old position. By themotion of wheel It the arm 0 moves a little upward, but drops as soon asthe pend ulum has moved sufficiently far to the right.

A further construction for checking the motion of a contact part isshown in Fig. X, where w represents a two-armed lever having a contactspring, Z, provided with a weight attached. The vertical arm ofthe leverto lies loosely against a plate, h, secured to the pendulum-rod. Thehorizontal arm of the lever 10 carries at its end a projecting pin, .9,flat on top, and the pins t", attached to the wheel, are also flattenedto correspond withv the flat part of the pin 8. WVhen the pendulum isoscillating, the lever w, as'well as the spring Z", is made to oscillateupon the axle d onaccount of the vertical arm of lever 10 restingagainst plate h. The contactpi n 0, secured to the pend ulumrod, movestoward the right from the inclined end of the spring 1*, so thatordinarily no contact of the parts takes place. If, however, the are ofoscillation is reduced to a certain minimum, sov that the pin t does notadvance far enough, then the pin 8 comes in contact with pin t" whilethe pendulum oscillates to- Ward the right, and the lever 10 and springZ" will be held stationary, and the spring Z" will remain in its raisedposition, as shown in dot ted lines, when thepin 0* will pass over theinclined part of spring Z", and thus close the circuit. Before the endof its motion toward the left the pin 0 will leave the end of spring Z,the circuit is again opened, and pin 0* returns'over the lower isolatedface of spring F.

.In Fig. XI an arrangement isshown which has for its object to alter theposition of an oscillating contact part in relation to a permanent one.The arrangement of the wheel and of the pin i is the same as in Fig.VIII. The arm 0 is also arranged in asimilar manner as the arm 12 inFig. VIII, excepting that it is carried by a vertical arm of a bentlever, to. This lever is pressed by spring f against the pendulum-rod.The horizontal arm of this lever carries at its end a pin, 0 andatashort distance therefrom the contact-spring l is placed. The dottedline indicates the way usually described by pin 0 If, however, duringthe oscillation of the pendulum toward the left, the arm 0 catches intopin 5,- the pin 0 will simultaneously move downward, and will describe amuch more inclined way than the one shown in dotted lines, and will thencome in contact and glide over spring Z to close the circuit, returningover the isolated rear side of the spring in the manner above described.It may be mentioned that this downward motion of the horizontal arm oflever to, or the upward motion of an additional arm directed toward theleft from the fulcrum, may be utilized to cause the motion of a contactpart normally at rest.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. VIII to XI the pendulum, apart fromthe task of pushing forward wheel R, swings perfectly free until acontact intervenes.

The influence on the pendulum caused by the resistance of the wheel canbe reduced to a minimum, particularly if the contact apparatus for theline-current be omitted, and in any case is less than when the countingof the oscillations of the pendulum is done by producing a contact atevery double oscillation. It is particularly worthy of notice that inthe present construction all the contacts are gliding eontacts,-and thatthe contact-pins glide over a proportionately long plane, leaving itonly at the edge. With this arrangement an appliance for removing theinterrupting spark is completely superfluous, and the contact parts willstand a number of years wear before it will be necessary to replace themby new ones.

The movement of the hands of the controllingor primary clock may beeffected by ordinary wheel-gear or by two opposite pins being placed onthe front side of the wheel R, which lifts every minute a lever providedwith an arm that pushes a minute-wheel forward one tooth.

The advantages of this pendulum'elock are as follows: The pendulum isperfectly free in its oscillation, the contact ensues only when the areof oscillation has reached a certain minimum limit, while the work thependulum has to do is extremely insignificant.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a pendulum carrying apawl or lever, b, and pin q with tooth-wheel carrying pins t, and with apivoted lever, H,

interposed between the pendulum and toothwheel, carrying lever i andcontact-pin o, and with fixed spring Z, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of a pendulum carrying a pawl or lever, b, and acontact part, and a tooth-wheel. carrying pins, with a lever and with afixed springing contact part having part of its lower surface coated orcovered with non-conducting material, substantially as specified.

JOSEPH ZEINE R.

' Witnesses:

GUSTAV DEDREUY, M. GASPAR.

